I am a God

What exactly makes someone a god? Does everyone around you simply have to believe that you are a god or do you need to prove it, demonstrating god-like abilities such as performing turning water to wine and walking on water? These questions lead to even more important concepts, branching out into bigger and more complicated ideas of godhood. It is within this realm that I base my post tonight. A little more than an hour ago I left the Oracle Coliseum in Oakland, California. There in the tenth row I sat watching Kanye West perform the act of his Yesus tour. Before and during the performance, West made some interesting controversy by defining himself and his music within the context of Jesus Christ. Why would an artist of such caliber and intelligence (yes, I believe he is an extremely intelligent person) open himself up to such an easy channel of criticism? An interesting thing I have learned from adopting a more liberal degree, is that once a piece is published and out in the world, it takes on a life of its own. It is important to separate the man that you believe you know from the work that he produces. We can all say that we have had truly original thoughts, based in no way on our usual thinking. The random, chaotic essence that consumes the mind makes what we consider important and famous today, at least I believe this. My point is that I don’t believe that Kanye West was entitling his work based on an egotistical facet. More that he realized what a god was and understood that he fit with the modern idea of a god.

            One of the primary parts of being a god is immortality. This is a debatable subject only because it is limited with how explicitly you define immortal. Because the word is ‘god’ perhaps you might take it quite serious, but since we are in reality and don’t take gods seriously, neither shall we take the word seriously. Let us define it in the more abstract way: an everlasting being, forever imprinted in the minds of its followers, in essence, a memory. Can any of us honestly say that Kanye West will ever fade from memory entirely? When we are 50 years older, perhaps we will all be able to recall a point when we thought West was an asshole. Which is the very point! Years later, as long as information exists, the name and works of Kanye West will exist. He is simply too big and famous now to be ignored when it comes to future generations. No matter what he does, no matter how he besmirches himself, no matter how much you hate him, his memory will live on. This is only the first point that contributes to the very real and valid point that West is a god.
            I watched a TED Talk a few months ago exploring the pieces of a movement. What I considered the most interesting bit was who was considered the bravest in a movement. It was not the instigator, but the first follower. Without this follower, the instigator would just be a lone nut, shouting in the darkness with no one listening. Once the follower appeared, it was a movement. The message was valid enough to attract others and bring them away from their life to instead focus on what the instigator wanted them to focus on. It used to be that in the business world of the internet, companies used to compete for clicks, this is no longer the case. Now they compete for attention. Advertising agencies measure the effectiveness of their ads based on the time that users spend on the site or in view of the ad. It is this basic shift from a mere look, to a following that has affected the way a movement can be justified and measured. As I stood in my row, my friends next to me shouting their approval, I couldn’t help but notice the crowd. That they were all singing along with the artist, mimicking what he did, cheering his words, validated what he was doing. It validated everything that he was. It doesn’t matter if what you say is crazy, if you step out onto a stage and have thousands of people cheer, you are doing something right. The point is the act of mass validation is what gave Kanye further right to declare himself a god. Though this claim and fame also come with drawbacks, some that are constantly being said by these mega-stars.

Once you achieve this kind of fame and recognition, you lose an independent identity and become an icon. An icon has no life of its own outside of the public interest. It thrives and lives upon what the public thinks of it. One can argue that this is a factor in becoming a god, you lose your ability to speak for yourself and you are left up to the interpretations from others. Look at any popular religion these days, none of the gods they believe in are actually around to tell us what they want so we count on their followers to interpret their will for us. The same can be said for mega-stars after they lose their fame or die. There is a certain point where the icon can no longer die, but merely fade into the background. Michael Jackson has been dead for 4 years but do you really think there will ever be a time when no one will know who he was and no one will know his music? It does not matter if they knew him personally, he was an icon, not an individual. Kanye has hundreds of thousands of people following his every move physically and millions following him electronically. A significant portion of the planet knows the name Kanye West. Truly, how is this much different from Jesus? In general terms, Jesus was a person who had a set of beliefs, he strove to teach those beliefs to his followers because he thought it would benefit them. Kanye West may have a different medium but he still has a message that he wishes to get out to his followers. Though another incredibly important aspect to his existence is that, as a god, he is infallible.

Many cultures on this planet, made up of perfectly rational human beings believed that killing was good. Our American society believes that killing is justified in certain circumstances, the death penalty, war, self-defense, etc. What is right and what is wrong are not some strange, mystical rules that float above the world, written in the sky for all to observe. The rules of modern society are based upon thousands of years of experimentation of what does and does not work. If you let people kill each other because they have a disagreement, that is generally detrimental to your society. It is no crazy to think that within 100 years, some absolutely basic part of our behavior now will be completely reversed. This is the way of human nature. Not only is it a way of understanding the fluctuating opinions of society but it is also an interesting way of judging what is right and what is wrong. The classic biblical definition of infallible is along the lines of ‘something to be certainly true’. Because we are all human and the state of what we think is true is constantly flowing, what we believe is true and right is based upon majority rule. 99.9% of scientists believe global warming is true, therefore we as a society accept it. Based on the subject, we believe the majority content of those who are deemed to be most knowledgeable. Since Kanye is not preaching physics or mathematics, but his own philosophy, we all feel we are justified in determining whether what he says is true or not. Few people turn off music and say “that is too deep for me, I don’t have an opinion”, no, they form an opinion because the medium is easily accessible and requires little preparation to partially grasp. Those crowds, multitudes of people who feel that Kanye is right makes him a god. It makes him infallible. When looked at in objective terms, money, fame, important topics that cannot be ignored, a common comment is ‘I understand why he did it’. This very comment, excusing and allowing any behavior because he is a star allows him to become an unstoppable force or truth. It is more the allowance than the true support of his actions that back up this point. When something is not stopped, it becomes unstoppable.

             Kanye West is not special because he is famous or talented; lots of people are as such. Kanye West is special because he is actively choosing to define himself as a god in the modern sense. It is that he can do whatever he wants and be recognized for it. I absolutely love the song Pinocchio Story from 808s and Heartbreaks because I feel it best describes his frustration with his crowds misunderstanding his understanding. What is funny is the certain lines tht the crowd decides to cheer during the song. When he yells, when he says a rather ‘gangster’ phrase, they cheer. It demonstrates that he is largely talking to a wall when he performs. “What does it feel like” he asks. He is demonstrating a deep understanding that he is not a person anymore but a “persona on TV that no one can really feel”. When the fame hits you in such a big way you lose your humanity and become something else. There is no other reaction from someone who sees Kanye in life than to say “where’s my camera”. Think about that. You cannot statically exist anymore. There is no peace or blending, no quiet or shading. Everything that drives our life, essentially money, he has achieved at 36 years old. As he says, “there is no Gucci I can buy, there is no Louis Vuitton to put on, there is no YSL that they could sell, to get my heart out of this hell”. It is a sad and emotional moment to step back and see all that we strive for is somewhat pointless. Everything in this world is accessible by money, everything has a price. There is truly nothing he can’t do. He could run for president, he could buy an island and disappear, he could start a business, he could buy any house, visit any country, meet any person, go to any school, get any girl. Kanye West is a true god because he has achieved what every person in the world wants, power over your fellow human being. I personally have a hard time believing in god in the biblical sense of the word, I am not one to believe in something without evidence but there is evidence to say that Kanye is justified in his proclamations. I believe Kanye West is a god because he will forever be remembered, he has a following of millions and he, by argumentum ad populum, has been deemed infallible. 

@FitzFile